Prize to be Earned
by Yumeshojo
Summary: Sai considers himself a patient guy, and he's waited a long time for the chance to win her heart - but first, he has to help mend the breaks already in it. Sai X Sakura, implied Sakura X Sasuke & Sakura X Naruto


_Why? I have no idea. I got bored and thought: "I don't like Sakura enough for her to be with Naruto, I hate Sasuke, but I like her more than I normally do female main characters." Then I thought: "Wow, Sai's really growing on me!" And thus, the coupling became official in my head. O_o Weird, but I like it. Oh, and this is set in the future, where Sakura was unable to win Sasuke and waited too long and Naruto...rejected her? Got taken? You decide ^_^ (personally, I'm thinking NaruXHina)_

**Disclaimer: I doth dis/the claiming of this/a story I wrote/tho characters I don't/and thus I say/to end this way/DON'T BE RETARDED, I OBLIVIOUSLY DON'T OWN ANYTHING! *runs away sobbing at your insensitivity***

* * *

Sai glanced sideways at the doubled over form of the pink haired kunoichi he'd come to respect over the past few months. Seated on a bench near the woods in a deserted part of town, she hadn't so much as moved in the past half hour except to sniffle or wipe her eyes. Sai himself wasn't sure what to do in this kind of situation. Shinobi weren't supposed to show emotion, ever, but if he'd learned anything in his time with team seven, it was that emotion was sometimes their most powerful weapon – and greatest weakness at the same time. But that didn't make it a bad thing.

"Sakura-san?" He said it lightly, trying to read as carefully as he could. He knew Sakura could be pretty scary when he said the wrong thing, and this was definately a sensitive time. But he couldn't just sit here and do nothing the whole while, could he? Should he? Well, too late for that now, anyway.

She sniffled beside him and brought her arm up. She was still wiping her swollen eyes when she looked up at him with a shy smile. "Ah, sorry Sai-kun. I didn't mean to make you sit through this."

"If I had wanted to leave, I would have." Sai stated simply, if not a little pompously. He realized this and thought about trying to be nicer, but Sakura had started to laugh lightly, distracting him.

"Sai-kun, you're so strait forward. I guess that's a good quality, don't you think?"

"I don't know how to answer that, as it is about myself. But I suppose it would be on another person, but that depends on the person as well."

Sakura was smiling a bit bigger by the time he finished. "That's all true. How thoughtful of you, Sai-kun."

_Sai-kun_.

Sai took notice of the fact she'd said his name specifically in almost every sentence she'd said since they started speaking. While he found it strange that he seemed to like that fact, he was also aware that there was a reason behind it. _To anchor herself here, in the current conversation. So she doesn't loose herself in the pain again, thinking about those two. She has to keep drawing herself to me so as not to think about the pain anymore._

Sai's expression softened a bit. _That's alright for now. But just for now. _"Thoughtful, am I? I could have sworn you thought I was a rude brat at one time, remember?"

"I do." Sakura clapped her hands together at the memory. "But you're matured a great deal since then, Sai-kun."

_Sai-kun._

"Hmph." Sai looked away. "I find it aggrevating that I've matured due to hanging around such people as yourselves, when I would have thought I was more mature than you to start with."

"How mean, Sai-kun!" Sakura shot him a glare. "Now you're being a rude brat!"

_Sai-kun._

"Aren't you the one being rude, after I sat here all this time with you?"

A blush flooded Sakura's indignant face. "How could you dangle that in front of me?! That's not very gentleman-like!"

_Ah, she didn't add my name that time. She's not thinking of those two anymore, but of me._

A smile crept to Sai's face. "I've never claimed to be a gentleman, Sakura-san." Standing, Sai towered above Sakura, casting his shadow over her in the evening sun. "And I fully expect to be reimbursed for my time here today."

"What? How so? Because you're not getting anything from me, you jerk! I never asked you to stay with me."

Sakura closed her eyes in anger as she spoke, turning her head down towards the ground so as not to even aim her head at Sai. But that suited him just fine.

"I don't expect anything anytime soon, but I will be repaid. Slowly, maybe. But I'm willing to wait for what I'll get, just like I waited beside you here today." Sakura's eyes opened and she looked up at Sai, only to find his rare, soft gaze locked on hers. He was darkened by the dying light and the shadows around him, but he glowed around the edges from the sun's last rays. "I don't waste my time, Sakura-san. This will definately be worth it, I hope you realize that."

Sakura suddenly wondered if they were still talking about the same thing, or if Sai had suddenly turned into a psychologist right before her eyes. He certainly seemed to be jumping form mood to mood, despite his ever smiling face.

"For the Sakura who could not win, no matter how desperately she tried, the heart of the man she'd always loved. For the Sakura who reached, too late, for the heart of the man who'd always loved her, and grasped nothing."

Sakura's eyes started to water again at the horrible reminder Sai was painting in the air between them of the tears she had been shedding. But Sai leaned down onto one knee before her, and reached up his hand to cup her face, his thumb holding her chin to guide her gaze to him despite her half-hearted struggle. He made sure she was looking into his eyes when he continued. "For the Sakura who is beautiful even when tarnished with tears, who is strong in heart as well as in mind and body, and for the Sakura who has helped to shape my world. For that prize, my time is not wasted."

Sai chuckled at Sakura's gaping expression of shock. "For that prize, it will definately be worth the wait. And I expect the wait to be a long one. For my prize has been hurt, damaged, and used. But I'm willing to work to put her back together, to help her move on. And one day, when that's done-"

Leaning forward, Sai brought his face to hers as he released her, opting instead to run his hand up her cheek. So close their noses were almost touching, Sai whispered his certain statement. "I'll claim the prize I've earned."

As quickly as he'd brought himself to her, Sai was gone again, standing nonchalantly before her like nothing had happened. "So until then, let's talk about Uchiha Sasuke and Uzumaki Naruto, shall we, Sakura-san?"

"S-sai-kun?"

_Sai-kun._

"Really, Sakura-san, it's too soon for you to be saying my name so often. I don't own you _yet_. So let's work on what needs to be worked on first, before we go discussing such things, shall we? I just wanted you to know that there is someone here who will wait for you, Sakura-san, so don't worry about that."

_H-how d-did he know I was thinking that? That there was something wrong with me, to loose two guys that I loved?_

"Sakura-san, concentrate here. Less me, more you. Or do you want to skip the 'healing' step and just become mine?"

Sakura was thoroughly red by now, but that was enough to wake up a bit of her fire. "You're begining to sound like Li!"

Sai frowned. "But you're not going to chose him over me, right?"

"Of course not!" Sakura had said that quicker than she'd thought about it and found herself stuttering a correction afterword that Sai, grinning, ignored.

_I'm going to make you think of me more than even those two, Sakura-san. It'll take time, but I will heal your broken heart with these hands that you also helped to heal._


End file.
